


With Honor

by wynnebat



Series: With Honor [1]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Canon Divergence - Winter War, Established Relationship, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Minor Character Death, POV Urahara Kisuke, Time Travel, Turn Back the Pendulum Arc, light murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 18:06:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18899857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wynnebat/pseuds/wynnebat
Summary: Upon Yamamoto's last words, Kisuke opened his eyes and faced a room full of ghosts, and he smiled at them."I'm honored to be here," Kisuke said to each of the captains who congratulated him on his promotion.





	With Honor

**Author's Note:**

> How was I supposed to resist time travel??? I couldn't, obviously
> 
> The first few lines are from Yamamoto's speech in the anime.

_"...and so yesterday, I, Yamamoto Genryuusai, along with the three captains who are present, conducted an examination to thoroughly evaluate this man's qualifications to become captain. And after a complete inquiry, we found no shortcomings in his abilities, nor his character. Therefore, I announce that the former third seat of Squad Two, Urahara Kisuke, is hereby promoted to the rank of captain of Court Guard Squad Twelve."_

Kisuke's eyes remained closed throughout the captain-commander's speech.

Perhaps the others would assume he did it out of respect or nervousness. He faintly remembered being stricken by nerves when he first entered this room as a captain, intimidated by both the white coats of the others and the white coat on his own shoulders. More so by his own white coat—success at this level only meant he had so much further to fall. Now, Kisuke simply rested his eyes, his heart slowing down with each breath. He didn't have to listen to Yamamoto's speech to know what he would say; what he said, will say, was saying now, it was all the same.

Upon Yamamoto's last words, Kisuke opened his eyes and faced a room full of ghosts, and he smiled at them.

"I'm honored to be here," Kisuke said to them as each of the captains who congratulated him on his promotion.

Some did so with reluctance, whether it was due to his lack of nobility or his roots in Squad Two, but even Ginrei Kuchiki gave something like a blessing. "The captainship is an honor and a duty. Let us see if you live up to it, Captain Urahara."

Kisuke met his dark eyes and promised, "I will do my best to live up to both."

There had been a time when he hadn't known what it would mean to accept this post. Oh, he had known duty, that had been true enough. He had been forged in duty and obedience by the Second Division. By the time he became captain, loyalty was second nature to him. And yet, he had barely known what honor was. Even had he understood the concept, it wouldn't have appealed. It had taken a young man with an insurmountable spirit to knock honor into him. Kisuke had looked at him and realized he would need more than his former mindset to understand the one named Kurosaki Ichigo. And he had deeply, earnestly wanted to understand, even when simply understanding wasn't enough.

Everyone in the room looked so young. Not their faces, because shinigami aged so slowly at the captains' ages and power levels, but their eyes. This was a society that had known peace and contentment for many, many years. Without Kisuke's interference, it would know peace for only a little while longer, until Aizen fully committed to his plans. Kisuke didn't intend to allow Aizen to get that far.

He relaxed step by step as he walked out of the meeting room.

Yoruichi caught up with him. "Stressful, wasn't it? But you did great. I knew you would."

Kisuke scratched his chin and wondered when he could introduce a hat into his wardrobe. "I think I'll get used to it quickly enough."

"You looked like you were going to pass out when you entered the room," Yoruichi said with a snicker. "What are you going to do now?"

 _Save the world,_ Kisuke thought, and said, "Meet my new squad, I suppose. Do you think they'll like me?"

"Judging by today, your second in command can't stand your guts, but the rest of your squad is less spirited." She grinned, wide and coy, and for a moment Kisuke felt nostalgic for the man he used to be, who loved this woman without reservation. That man was gone now, replaced by the man who had watched his best friend die in a never-ending war. "You can have Sui-Feng if you'd like. Her crush on you is _adorable_."

"She would kill me," Kisuke said, opening the door for Yoruichi before walking out into the sunlight. A hundred some years in the future, he'd activated his time travel machine in the dead of night and middle of winter, and now rays of sunlight heated his face. "You know it isn't me she has feelings for."

"I know. It's still fun to tease."

Kisuke gave a huff of laughter, glancing to the side to give a look toward his oldest friend. "You could do more than tease." The sun's warmth left him feeling light, as did the fact that Yoruichi walked next to him. Not as a ghost of his mind's creation, but a woman, living and breathing. A bit wickedly, he added, "Or tease in an entirely different way."

" _Kisuke_." Her look of shock was overplayed and a smile tugged at her lips. "And coming from you, too."

She could have meant a thousand different things, but Kisuke knew her too well for that. "It's the time for new beginnings, Yoruichi. I wouldn't begrudge you a beginning of your own." They came to a stop at the gates of the Twelfth Division and Kisuke added, "Even if it is with Sui-Feng."

Yoruichi tilted her head not unlike a cat, her eyes set on his. "You're acting weird."

Of course she would notice the difference—it had been a very long time since Kisuke had looked at her without love in his heart. He wouldn't be able to fake it now even if he tried and he didn't intend to try. His heart was taken, much more firmly so this time, and Kisuke wouldn't budge. "It must be the honor and duty taking effect."

With Yoruichi's laughter in his ears, he headed inside to greet his new squad. Hiyori reflected more cat qualities than Yoruichi on a bad day, glaring at him and all but hissing as he gave a speech to his new squad. Kisuke had the presence of mind to realize that it was a better speech than he had given the first time around; war had taught him one or two things. It had taught him patience, too, and he knew that he would not begin to implement his vision for the Twelfth immediately. It would still become the Soul Society's research division. Kisuke couldn't imagine a life without science. It would simply be a slower, more gradual process. He had to alter the future before he could focus on the present. Anything he did for himself now would not matter in the grand scheme of things. After all, Kisuke had returned to pluck the seeds of war before they could grow tall enough to suffocate all life.

Hiyori could hate him for replacing the former captain all she liked. She never really had warmed up to him, not even in the future.

At the end of the day, Kisuke settled into his nearly empty captain's quarters, old and new to him at the same time, and tried to sleep. His bed felt empty. He could stretch his arms out and grasp nothing but sheets and covers. He would dream of Ichigo, he knew, and it would be bittersweet. The past was a lonely place without Ichigo. All Kisuke could do was wait and follow through with the mad plan he and Ichigo put together. And even without Ichigo, it wasn't so bad. He was not surrounded by their dead and dying, not hopeless in the face of Aizen's war.

He was alive. It was rather shocking, come to think of it. Kisuke had no idea when the knowledge that his death was coming had settled into his chest, but it was time to dislodge it, and to live.

It did worry him when Ichigo did not arrive on the second day, nor the next, nor the next. Kisuke didn't appreciate worry. It clouded his judgment. Instead of focusing on it, he prepared for Ichigo's arrival. He stocked his food cabinet with Ichigo's favorites, bought proper dishes instead of dual use science equipment, had some clothes delivered in Ichigo's size, killed Aizen in cold blood and made it look like an accident. Anything to properly prepare for Ichigo's arrival.

He even made nice with Sui-Feng whenever he saw her. She was amusing. He never used to think so when he was truly this age. Instead, he had been caught between love and respect for Yoruichi, in that uncomfortable position of knowing that she knew of his feelings and had no interest in reciprocating them. Now Kisuke looked to the horizon and waited for someone else. Someone who was taking far too long to join him.

Ichigo would come.

Kisuke trusted in his own brilliance.

More so, he trusted in Ichigo's ability to always beat the odds.

One day, when he and Yoruichi meet for a drink, Sui-Feng absent and not in the habit of day drinking, Kisuke mused aloud, "I think I'll start dating." It was best to prepare Yoruichi. Kisuke was unsure of how she would react to Ichigo.

"Really," Yoruichi said in reply, leaning forward. "Anyone in particular?"

"No, but I’d like to find someone myself. You may not set me up."

He spent the next month avoiding the various surprise dates Yoruichi set up for him. Poor Sui-Feng was one of Yoruichi's main targets, although Kisuke was convinced that it was only for Yoruichi's amusement rather than any expectation that they would learn to get on. Kisuke accepted Yoruichi's attempts with long-suffering avoidance. He didn't mind a distraction from Hiyori's anger, his squad's wary obedience, or his own personal thoughts, but he could do without her attempts at throwing various women at him like a cat with a mouse between her teeth.

It was lonely, this long, winding path without Ichigo.

When this plan was conceived, Ichigo had proposed that Kisuke go alone. It would have been faster and easier. Kisuke had rejected that option outright. Despite the future being chaos, unsafe for any living being, Kisuke spent months creating a device that would allow Ichigo to follow him into the past. Ichigo's mind and body both needed to be transported, while all Kisuke needed was his mind, his body having already existed in this time.

No matter how long it took to find a way, Kisuke stood firm. He had said to Ichigo that he wouldn't commit to a lifetime without Ichigo and he'd meant it.

Another month passed.

Kisuke wondered if he might need a hobby. Daily sparring with Hiyori, who needed a release for her anger and was slowly beginning to accept him as captain even when swearing that this would be the day she beat him, was not enough. Neither was dodging Sui-Feng's occasional stalking. She still kept a running list of things that made him a bad captain. Gin sometimes joined her in stalking; Kisuke had left no proof of his involvement in Aizen's death, but somehow the kid was still suspicious. His experiments were all legal and stable, and thus boring.

Maybe he could take up cooking. If he practiced, he might be able to make one solid meal by Ichigo's arrival.

At least this time around, his paperwork all got done.

"I really have become old and boring," Kisuke said to himself, frowning at the current batch of paperwork.

Only one measly murder—okay, not one, he'd also had to take care of a handful of others—had been his only high point for months. Ichigo would probably complain at Kisuke having risked his safety by going after Aizen alone, but it had been necessary, and Ichigo could hardly fault people for impatience.

Kisuke sighed.

The future he'd left had been a place of horror and death, but in one thing, he had been utterly spoiled.

He and Ichigo had found each other again and again in the chaos war, first as mentor and mentee, then as friends, then as more. Except for when war took them away from each other for a time, Kisuke never wanted for Ichigo's attention. They had each other even when they had others, and when so many were gone, they could lean on one another. And now, there was only this.

Kisuke looked down at his paperwork and shoved it aside. He would come in early to finish it.

It was only a short walk to his captain's quarters.

As he approached, Kisuke slowed his pace, recognizing that the door had been disturbed. There was a muffled reiatsu signature inside. It gave off just enough energy for Kisuke to realize whose it was and within moments, he'd shunpoed the last few steps and opened the door.

Ichigo stood on the other side.

His clothes were lightly torn and greatly blood-covered, and there was a cut on his right hand. He rested against Kisuke's table, not quite admitting to needing to sit down, but leaning against it like a lifeline. Behind him, his zanpakutou was sheathed on his back. 

In short, he was perfect.

"It dropped me off in Hueco Mundo," Ichigo groused, but he couldn't seem to work up a glare. He looked at Kisuke with such stark relief, something that must be echoed in Kisuke's eyes because he knew the pleasure and reassurance of seeing Ichigo again would never fade. His world had corrected itself again.

"I did say there may be some degree of error." Kisuke took another few steps.

Ichigo pushed himself off from the table and into Kisuke's arms. He wrapped his arms tightly around Kisuke, rested his face on Kisuke's shoulder, and let out a shuddering breath. "Fucking finally. I noticed you made some... renovations."

"Necessary ones," Kisuke said with a hum. He patted Ichigo's back, delighting in the warmth of Ichigo's presence even as his hand came back sticky. "How about I tell you all about it tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow sounds good." When Ichigo pulled back, he only did so just enough to kiss him.

Kisuke had made a life for himself in the past, but it only now felt like home.

 

*

 

Their wedding was announced shortly.

"When you know, you know," Kisuke said, airily.

Yoruichi made a sound of frustrated confusion. "I don't _understand_."

"Honor and duty also played a part," Kisuke simply said, lips twitching, and he dodged her forthcoming attack.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm also on [tumblr](https://wynnefic.tumblr.com/).


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